Fishing rod holders of the type used on marine vessels, such as sport fishing and pleasure boats, generally include a hollow tube in which the butt end of a fishing rod can be inserted to hold a fishing rod in a generally upright, angled or vertical, position for purposes of storage or to hold the rod while fishing. Such fishing rod holders commonly include a mounting bezel surrounding the mouth of the tube. The mounting bezel is typically provided with a plurality of holes for receiving fasteners which can be inserted through the body of the mounting bezel and into an underlying panel of the vessel in order to attach the rod holder to the vessel. Machine screws, bolts or wood screws are generally used and are inserted such that the tops of the heads of the screws remain visible on the exposed upper surface of the mounting bezel after the fishing rod holder has been installed. Because of their visibility on the upper surface of the bezel, the fasteners detract from the appearance of the installation. Irregularities such as driving slots or holes in the heads of the fasteners are also prone to retain dirt and water, a condition which is even more unsightly and promotes corrosion of the fasteners and the mounting bezel itself.
Both tubular fishing rod holders and, more specifically, tubular fishing rod holders in which a transverse bar at the end of the tube engages a slot in the butt of a fishing rod are known in the prior art. This bar can engage either a single transverse groove or pair of transverse grooves at right angles to one another. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,690 to Lewis these grooves are cited as enabling, in the case of a rod with a pair of such grooves, the rod to be placed in the holder in four positions. In the case of the '690 patent as well as that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,706 to Adams, U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,731 to Budd, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,970 to Moss et. al, a transverse bar in the bottom of the tubular rod holder precludes movement of the rod about its longitudinal axis. However, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,438 to Arrow, the aforementioned transverse bar is rotatable, allowing the fishing rod to pivot or swivel such that the tip of the rod traverses a path which has an arcuate component in a horizontal plane. In such a rod holder, a transverse bar extends across the diameter of the center of a rotatable mounting ring flanked on either side by washers, allowing the bar to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise when force is applied to the tip of the rod in a given pivotal direction by a running fish. However, lacking in the prior art is a fishing rod holder which enables a user to set, increase or decrease the resistance of the rod holder, and thus, the rod, to such rotation, effectively managing the ability of the rod to swivel in the direction of pull exerted on it.